TABLE OF CONTENTS Unlike traditional wired networks in which communications travel along a shielded wire cable, wireless radio frequency signals traverse the open air. As such, a wireless signal is exposed to anyone within the signal s range. Therefore, we must take proper security measures so that potential attackers or anyone within a wireless signal s range does not have the ability to view, steal, or manipulate what we send through the open air.
Security is one of the biggest concerns in any network infrastructure. A public security breach of a business network can scare away current and potential clients, causing a company to lose millions of dollars in revenue. Today, network architectures built without security components are unacceptable.
Wireless local area networks (WLANs) are changing the way business is conducted. The use of remote devices such as phones, laptops, and personal digital assistants (PDAs), along with a demand for continuous network connection without having to plug in, is driving the wireless revolution and the adoption of WLAN.
In this chapter, we will review general network security and the best practices for understanding and protecting your wireless network. We will go over new capabilities and enhancements present in Microsoft Vista wireless networking, and changes from previous versions, such as Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. At the end of the chapter, we will configure an actual secure wireless network using both the new Vista wireless commands in the command-line prompt and the newly developed wireless user interface (UI).
